Field Hockey Splits Weekend At Home
After the hottest start in program history, the third-ranked Ohio State field hockey team has slipped a bit in the waning games of the 2024 season, losing two out of its last four, all against Big Ten competition.
However, the Buckeyes were able to pick up a win across the weekend with a 2-1 double-overtime shootout win over Indiana Friday before falling 3-0 to No. 16 Iowa on Sunday.
Ohio State trailed 1-0 at halftime against the Hoosiers (8-8, 3-4 Big Ten), but used a third-quarter goal from junior back Katie Fichtner to even the score. Neither team found the back of the cage for the remaining 17 minutes, and it took two overtime periods and a shootout before do-it-all graduate forward Makenna Webster won the game for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State outshot the Hawkeyes 11-8 on Sunday, but three out of the five shots on goal for Iowa found their way into the cage en route to the shutout loss for Ohio State.
All three Iowa scores came in the second half, as fifth-year forward Alex Wesneski tallied the first goal of the day early in the third quarter.
Sophomore midfielders Lieve van Kessel and Dionne van Aalsum added the second and third goals of the day, respectively, for the sixteenth-ranked Hawkeyes (9-7, 2-5 Big Ten).
Ohio State (13-3, 4-3 Big Ten) takes the trip to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern on Friday in the penultimate game of the regular season before closing out the campaign against Central Michigan in Columbus on Nov. 3.
Men’s Soccer Stays Hot With Shutout Win Over Northwestern
Now boasting the title of the best team in men’s soccer, No. 1 Ohio State removed all doubt about that top spot with a 2-0 win over Northwestern (8-6-1, 2-5-1 Big Ten) on Friday.
Both Ohio State goals came in the second half as freshman forward David Ajagbe scored his fifth goal of the season at 54:15 and senior midfielder Michael Adedokun tallied his eighth score of the campaign at 68:03.
With the win, the top-ranked Buckeyes (11-1-2, 6-1-1 Big Ten) sit second in the Big Ten standings, just one point shy of Indiana (20 points, 6-1-2 Big Ten).
The Buckeyes host Michigan State on Tuesday before closing out the regular season in College Park, Md., against Maryland on Nov. 3.
Women’s Soccer Upsets Penn State In Regular Season Finale
Following a two-game road losing skid to top-10 teams in USC and UCLA, No. 21 Ohio State women’s soccer got back on track in Columbus with a 4-1 win over No. 15 Penn State, closing out the Buckeyes regular season.
The Buckeyes (11-4-3, 6-3-2 Big Ten) maintained control of the match the full 90 minutes, as freshman defender Jacinda Bonham scored in the 17th minute to give Ohio State a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
Senior defender Syndey Jones lifted the Buckeyes to a 2-0 advantage with her first goal of the season at 60:47. Nearly 13 minutes later, freshman defender Anika Poremba scored her first goal in 2024 to make it 3-0.
Penn State (11-5-3, 5-4-2 Big Ten) redshirt season Kaitlyn MacBean gave the Nittany Lions some life at 73:37 before senior forward Kailyn Dudukovich added an insurance goal for Ohio State at 84:10.
The goal by Dudukovich was a special one, as it propelled her to the all-time leading goal scorer in program history with 41 career goals
Up next, the Buckeyes head to the opening round of the Big Ten tournament. Seeding and match times have yet to be determined.
Women’s Volleyball Falls Again, Extends Losing Streak To Five
Ohio State women’s volleyball has had a tough October, losing seven out of eight matches in the month, including five in a row.
The most recent loss was a five-set, reverse sweep heartbreaker to No. 15 Minnesota (14-6, 7-3 Big Ten) on Sunday.
The Buckeyes (8-12, 1-9 Big Ten) won the opening two sets 25-16 and 25-18, respectively, before dropping the next three (25-22, 25-16 and 15-10).
Coming up, Ohio State will welcome Michigan State on Thursday at the Covelli Center.
Women’s Ice Hockey Scores 18 Goals In Two Days, Capture 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament Title
For No. 2 Ohio State women’s ice hockey, the 2024 Icebreaker Tournament consisted of one thing: offensive domination.
The Buckeyes never trailed once across the weekend, defeating Stonehill 11-0 Friday before beating Cornell 7-3 on Saturday to hoist the tournament trophy.
Ohio State (9-2-2, 4-2-2 WCHA) scored three goals in the first period, two in the second and an eye-popping six in the third to give the Buckeyes their fourth 10-plus goal game in the past two seasons.
Three Buckeyes had two-goal outings: freshman forward Josie St. Martin, sophomore forward Joy Dunne and junior blueliner Emma Peschel.
In her first start of 2024, junior goaltender Lexington Secreto tallied nine saves in the shutout win. Stonehill (1-8-0, 1-3-0 NEWHA) only logged nine shots to Ohio State’s 72.
Saturday’s tournament-deciding tilt was a much closer affair at certain points. The Buckeyes led 3-1 after 20 minutes with goals from three forwards in junior Sloane Matthews, graduate Kiara Zanon and sophomore Joy Dunne.
The Big Red made it a 4-3 game midway through the second period, with sophomore forward Karel Prefontaine bringing Cornell (1-2-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) within one on a power-play goal at 13:44.
Ohio State would respond with three unanswered scores in the final 26 minutes, including two from sophomore forward Jocelyn Amos to capture the 2024 Icebreaker Tournament.
Across the weekend, six Buckeyes had two or more goals, including Dunne’s three-goal tournament.
Ohio State heads to St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., next for another WCHA weekend series on Friday and Saturday.
